With life expectancies steadily increasing, particularly for the wealthy, there is a real risk clients may end up outliving their money. As such, where a client chooses to retire is taking on even greater importance than before.
A recent study by Bankrate ranked all 50 states in terms of attractiveness as a retirement destination. Its methodology applied weighted scores to each state based on five broad categories: affordability (40%), overall well-being (25%), the cost and quality of health care (20%), weather (10%) and crime (5%), which combined to determine the state’s overall rank.
Though not all these factors are directly related to money, items such as overall well-being contribute to keeping clients healthy and happy, helping them better avoid potentially expensive medical treatments (be they physical, psychological or otherwise).
Delaware was the big winner this year, moving up to take the top spot after being ranked No. 2 in the last edition. Though it doesn’t immediately jump to mind as a prime retirement destination, Delaware has no state or local sales tax nor does it tax Social Security benefits. It also has lower property taxes relative to the rest of the country, averaging roughly $1,939 annually, according to ATTOM data.
Rounding out the top five, largely powered by strong performance in the affordability category, are West Virginia, Georgia, South Carolina and Missouri. Though, notably, most of these states struggle in the lesser weighted cost of healthcare and crime departments. Last year’s No. 1, Iowa, took a tumble down to No. 9 after large property tax and cost of living increases in the past year.
The bottom tier is made up of pricey states, like New York, California and, surprisingly, North Dakota, which despite being middle of the pack in affordability, was dragged down by poor performance in cost and quality of healthcare, overall well-being and weather.
Alaska was the caboose, scoring poorly in basically every category.
Here are the rest of the 10 best and 10 worst states for retirement in 2024: